Educational toy



G. TAUSSIG AND C. WAGENFOHR.

EDUCATIONAL TOY.

APPLICATION FILED ngc-5,. 1917.

Patented May 18,1920- LU/thym: mJw

inviTED STATES PATENT carica,

GOTTLIEB TAUSSIG, OF NEW YORK, AND CARL WAGENFOHR, OF BROOKLYN,

NEW YORK.

EDUCATIONAL TOY.

To all ywhom t may concern:

Be it known that we, GOTTLIEB TAUssIG and CARL VAGnNror-m, citizens of the United States, residing in the city of New York, borough of Bronx, county of Bronx, and State of New York, and in the city of New York, borough of Brooklyn, county of Kings, and State of New York, respectively, have invented a certain new and useful Educational Toy, of which the following is a specification.

This invention is an educational toy or game, and the object of the invention is a device of the character speciiied which serves to both amuse and instruct the players and hold their attention in an interesting and intellectual manner.

Speaking generally, the invention, from a structural standpoint, embodies a casing, a supporting member therein on which a disk is mounted for rotation, said'disk being provided on itsV periphery with certain numbers or other designations, and with a series of depressions or pockets corresponding in number, and arranged in juxtaposition, to the designations, means for manually rotating or spinning the disk, and a ball to which movement is imparted upon the spinning of the disk and which automatically seeks one of the said depressions or pockets when the disk comes to rest.

The designations referred to may consist of numbers, letters, geographical locations, or any other suitable data.

Structural features of the invention, other than those adverted to, together with their functions and mode of operation, will be apparent from the following detailed description read in conjunction with the ac companying drawings. l

In the accompanying drawings we have illustrated one practical embodiment of the invention, but the construction therein shown is to be understood as illustrative,

only, and not as defining the limits of the invention.

Figure l is a plan view of the toy, with the top or cover of the casing removed, and

Fig. 2 is a central section in the plane of line 2-2 of Fig. 1, with the cover in place.

Referring to the drawings, A designates a casing in the form of a cylindrical container open at its top but provided with a cover A. A cylindrical strip B projects upwardly from the annular walls of the Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 18,- 1920.

Application filed December 5, 1917. Serial No. 205,617.

sleeve c so as to maintain the disk elevatedv above the bottom of the container.' Rotary lmember D may be made from metal, but, in

the interest of lightness andeconomy, it is preferably pressed up from papier-mch. It embodies a substantially frusto-conical, peripheral section Z which slopes from the outer periphery of the plate toward the hub,

and from the inner edge of section d a raised section d extends to the hub, all of these parts being integral, so that the hub will serve to support the entire rotary member. There is thus formed in the upper face of the rotary member, by the oppositely sloping portions d and d', an annular channel or runway in which is adapted to travel a ball E.

The upper surfaceV of inclined section 'cl is divided into radially extending portions J', each of which is provided with a suitable designation, here shown as a numeral, and, while there may bey any number of these portions, twenty-eight are shown and twenty-eight numerals are placed upon surface (l in any arrangement which may be desired. In the annular line of intersection between inclined portions cl and d are lprovided a plurality of depressions or pockets F, one of which is juxtaposed with each of the portions g. Y

Rotary member D, as stated, is mounted for rotation on post C, and such rotation may be imparted to saidV member by graspino' the upstanding portion of hub D and giving the same a sudden twist. As a result of this operation, member D is rapidly rotated and ball E spins around the upper surface thereof and is thrown to the outer periphery of said member by centrifugal force. The diameter of member D is but slightly less than the inner diameter of container A, so that the walls of said container serve te keep the ball from being thrown off and retain the same within the container, and resting upon rotary member D, during this rotation. When member D comes to rest after having been spun, ball E will be caused to come to rest in one of the pockets F and will retain this position until the plate is again spun.

In playing the game, each player spins member D in his turn once and passes the toy successively to the several players, until each has spun five times. As the ball comes to rest after each spin, the spinning player writes down the number opposite the pocket in which the ball came to rest after his spin, and, afterY each player has spun five times, the one who has attained the highest aggregate is deemed the winner.

The game, when played in this manner, with numbers, is very helpful in assisting the teaching of numbers to juveniles who are just learning numbers, as well as to older children who are in the process of learning addition.

It will be manifest that, by changing the character of the designations on the marginal portion d of rotary member or disk D, the device may be utilized for various, but similar, forms of educational amusement. Thus, the designations may consist of the letters of the alphabet, in which event' each player is assigned the same number of letters. The disk is then spun as heretofore described by the several players in succession, the person succeeding in stopping the ball irst at the several letters to which he has been assigned being declared the winner of the particular contest. It will be manifest that, in utilizing the device in the Inanner just described, the players are familiarized with the letters of the alphabet.

In the event the designations are States, each person is assigned the same number of States, and the game thereafter played as in the case of employing letters, heretofore described. 'I'he playing of the game in the foregoing manner familiarizes the players with geography. v

In the interest of simplification and to avoid a substantial duplication of drawings, and particularly as the modied forms of utilizing the invention do not call for any modification of the structure from a mechanical standpoint, it is not deemed advisable or necessary to illustrate different forms vof designations on the disk.

when cover A is in place, it cooperates with I container A to provide a complete housing, but the same can be readily removed to allow of the playing of the game. l

Having thus fully described the invention, what we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

An educational toy embodying a cylindrical casing provided with a closed bottom and an open top, a rigid upstanding post mounted in the center of the bottom of said casing and extending upwardly co-axially of the casing, and a bearing seat on said post, in combination with a circular disk of slightly less diameter than the casing positioned interiorly of the casing appreciably below the upper edge of the side thereof with its outer circumference immediately adjacent the interior side wall of the casing, a tubular hub rigid with the disk and surrounding the post to provide a finger piece, whereby the disk may be spun around while supported on the seat of the post, said disk being provided with an annular channel extending inwardly from its outer periphery for a-portion of the radius of the disk, and at the lower portion of which channel is formed an annular series of pockets into which a ball or sphere may come to rest when the centrifugal action of the spinning disk ceases, and said disk being lined radially to divide the Vsurface thereof into radial spaces, each of which 'is provided with a designation or character corresponding to the juxtaposed pocket, the inner surface of the side wall of the casing above the disk serving as an abutment to preclude the ball from being thrown clear of the disk `during the rotation thereof.

In testimony whereof we have signed our names to this specification.

GOTTLIEB TAUSSIG; CARL WAGEN F OHR. 

